Hello everyone, allow me to introduce myself...

[The.Philosophers.Buttler]

My name is Michael.  I'm 23 years old and reside in Canada. A year and a half ago-or two- my eyes were opened to the state of the world.  This sounds a bit pretentious.  I mean that my viewpoints were revolutionized-a paradigm shift that occurred within me and gradually developed over time.  I've long been skeptical of religion and the government since my days of youth, though I used to consider myself a liberal, and support liberal policies, blame corporations, and the like.  I began learning about a few topics through documentaries.  I remember one of the first things I watched was a documentary showing how companies like Coke and Pepsi extract water resources from countries largely free of charge, at the expense of the "public," the taxpayer.  At times, water would not run out the tap to people's homes, but would be siphoned off to the coke factory.  The documentary showed water to be more expensive than Coca-Cola in many places.  The documentary was also showing how the IMF/World Bank encourages countries to privatize their recourses and grant them to select government interests.  Anyway, without droning on about this particular documentary...  I next watched a historical documentary about the Rothschild family, and was amazed that one family could become so affluent and rich.  This was perhaps one of the most eye opening moments of my life, and I very much enjoyed that documentary and attempted to share it with others... to no avail.  Eventually, I discovered Alex Jones, and watched his documentary Endgame.  This was also highly influential to me in my early awakening.  I was surprised to discover his program that advertised such unique products as water filters, which I gradually became more interested in as I learned more.  I would search the internet for confirmation of the various claims made by Alex and typically confirm them, such as that fluoride consumption is linked to lower IQ.  So I began to identify as a libertarian.  Over time I shied away from Alex's program, but was still reading a lot of alternative news sources I trusted, and various other articles, studies, etc.  I love to research, verify/disprove things I hear, with academic literature, think critically about things, and consider myself fairly well researched.  Nobody around me really matched my interest or enthusiasm at the time.  I began implementing things I'd learned into my life, for example, filtering my water, eating organic.  Eventually, I was exposed to STEFAN MOLYNEUX, perhaps from his guest appearances on the Alex Jones Show, or through the "recommended videos" section, a miss-click...  I'm not quite sure.  Regardless, he must've sparked my interest because I continued to watch Stefan on YouTube.  His arguments resonated with me.  I've long been accused of being argumentative, and there was Stef affirming the value of coherent logical arguments.  I'm pretty intelligent (if you haven't ascertained so yourself ).  I was a bit of a rebel, with a history of critical thinking.  These reasons might have something to do with why Stef appealed to me.  As I listened to his arguments/podcasts out of order, I knew I was being convinced of the anarchist position, though was resistant to it because of the connotations surrounding the word, and because I was reluctant to change my views without being fully convinced.  Eventually I was, the more I learned from Stef, and the more I confirmed through my own research.   

 

As for my parental upbringing, I had a  fairly good childhood compared to others- I mean, I definitely enjoyed it, particularly my younger years and my friends, though it was peppered with conflict.  I was spanked.  I'd hide in the washroom, keeping my hand on the lock as to prevent it from turning.  I've seen my parents fight, my mom get pushed, cheated on, though this was by no means a regular occurrence.  Yelling was more prevalent, and there was a bit of authoritativeness.  In my later years I would get into trouble with my high school education, the law, smoking (not any harder drugs), troublesome relationships, which of course is not unrelated to my upbringing.  I emerged from these situations, I believe, without a large amount permanent damage, but with situations that call for introspection and learning.  

 

Anyway, there is much more I can say about myself but I've invested much time into this piece and would like to get working on unrelated projects.  I'm not sure who would be interested in reading this article about me, but if anyone will show curiosity, I think it will be the FDR community.  I've tried to tell the community a little about me because I'd like to be an active participant on the boards and chats.

 

Thanks everyone.  If you've any questions for me, do not hesitate to ask! 

 

Sincerely,

 

Michael

[AynRand]

Hello nice to meet you.

[Better Future]

Welcome, I'm new here too.  I would say this is the most reasonable forum on the internet I have come across.  At my most ignorant I considered myself communist, now I consider myself full on anarchist.  Logic has unimaginable power to change the world for the better.  You are one of the very few to wield that power.  

[Matt D]

Michael,

 

Welcome, brother. You are among friends.

 

I appreciate your vulnerable honesty.

 

I emerged from these situations, I believe, without a large amount permanent damage, but with situations that call for introspection and learning.  

Emerged may be too passive a word -- the reality is you survived an environment filled with predators. And yes, your toxic upbringing almost certainly damaged you psychologically. The good news is that your soul was not crushed, and that you can reclaim it with introspection, therapy and self knowledge. It's a journey you will not regret.

 

I look forward to your participation in the community.

[Carl Green]

Hi Michael,

 

It was a pleasure meeting you with this introduction, thanks for taking the time to write it up.

 

I've seen (I think) the documentary you watched on water. It was really good. I too have had a good documentary affect me similarly to how you've explained. The big ones for me were one on US' strategies for privatizing the resources of developing countries for it's own gain, and soon after, some aspects of the zeitgeist movement docs. (the parts on religion, the federal reserve, and quantitative easing economics)

 

Throughout my life I had considered myself an independent (in the political sense) and was very patriotic but always abhorred the actual practice of politics.  I've since realized that my patriotism was merely the strong sense of fellowship with my neighbor which I thank Stefan for mostly.

 

See ya around brother,

Carl